Never There
by Feather Black
Summary: She was the girl that defied fate, she and Van together. But now Van can't remember her, no-one can! Why is this happening? Who's behind all of this? And can the girl that defied fate, defy the laws of time aswell?
1. Prologue Who Are You?

_(squints at the amount of stories on this section in disbelieving sort of way) GAH! 00 There's like...more than 4000 stories on here...who knew godd old Escaflowne was so popular? THEY SHOULD HAVE KEPT IT SHOWING ON NATIONAL TELE! (sobs into hankie) Anyway, welcome to the fic called 'Never There'! This fic is based just after the series, 3 months if I remember right, it features pretty much everyone and some of my own as well. I've tried to stick as much as I can to the characters but please don't sue me if I haven't because I have no money and can't afford a lawyer. Apart from that, enjoy! R&R please!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Escalfowne series although if I had it my way it would be shown all the way through at least ever 6 months on National TV..._

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**Never There**

'and all that mattered was knowing her'

Prologue – Who Are You?

Hitomi felt his warmth wrap itself around her as he pulled her into his embrace. Her face pressed gently against the rough fibres of his shirt and a feeling of familiarity flooded her. She was home.

Suddenly, Hitomi felt his smooth hand under her chin, carefully moving her face up towards his. Her emerald eyes were suddenly locked on his face. She took in his wild black hair falling about his face in the style she knew so well and his burning brown eyes that reflected his fierce will. But something was wrong. The expression on his face…

He pulled back from her violently as though he had just embraced a poisonous snake. His eyes were filled with surprise and horror.

"Van?" Hitomi stepped forward, face distorted with concern. "What's wrong Van?"

Van shook his head and drew back further.

"Who are you?" he asked.

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_Okay, this chapter is short because it's a prologue okay? A PROLOGUE! The next chapter is at least 6 pages so knock yourself out!_

_Thankyou so much for paying attention, this FanFiction will now self destruct! BANG!_


	2. Uneasy Feelings

_Now this is the length I'm talking about! See, did I tell you or did I tell you that this one was longer? (tutts) And you guys didn't believe me, well shame on-_

_BW: So, you're finally on the Escaflowne section are you? It's about time!_

_FB: ..._

_BW: I mean I've been waiting around here since the stone age with my own Fic 'Tangled Destiny'!_

_FB: ..._

_BW: Hello? (waves hand in front of FB's face)_

_FB: (puppy dog eyes) I'm scrared BW, what if no-one reviews me? There's an awful lot of stories out there!_

_BW: Oh for God's sake of course they'll review you! Won't you! (points rocket launcher at reviewers)_

_FB: But...what if they get sucked into a swirling vortex and are bought out in a world where the Earth and moon...that sounds familiar...don't you think so BW?_

_BW: That's it, I'm gone! (BW walks off)_

_FB: Wait BW, don't leave me alone in the tank of Escaflowne reviewers! I'M NOT READY TO BE REJECTED! (runs after BW, tripping over rocket laucnher and blowing hole in house) Oops..._

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Escaflowne series all though I am currently working on a cat burgling plan to steal the series using stealth technologie and fleeing the country to Fiji under an assumed name. How does Ethelberta sound to you?_

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1: Uneasy Feelings

Hitomi woke in a cold sweat and sat bolt upright, breathing heavily. Automatically her hand shot to her heart, it thumped under her fingers. That dream…the words Van had said to her still burned the back of her eyelids as she blinked and tried to recompose herself.

"Van…" she whispered.

Slowly, his image faded on her mind, replaced by the familiar proportions of her room. She sighed and put a shaking hand up to her forehead.

"It was just a dream," she assured herself stiffly, " and besides it's been 3 months now and I'm sure Van has…moved on by now…like I should…"

She sounded less sure than she would have liked.

A short, sharp beeping sound cut the silence of the room. Hitomi groaned wearily, heaving herself up out of bed and ambling over to her wardrobe to find her school uniform. As she walked past her mirror to make her way downstairs she caught a brief glimpse of herself.

"Ugh."

"Hitomi? Hitomi are you up yet? Yukari's already here waiting!" it took a while for her mum's voice to register.

"What was that!" Hitomi called down stopping dead. How could she be here already? Hitomi had only just got up!

"I see you're up and raring to go." The sarcasm in Yukari's voice as she made her way up towards Hitomi was fairly blunt. Hitomi gave her the meanest scowl she could manage.

"Tch, you should pay more attention to daylight savings time." Yukari grinned smugly.

"And you should stop being such a know-it-all Yukari!" Hitomi retaliated, pushing past her friend to find her trainers.

"What about breakfast?" her mum asked coming in from the kitchen.

"I'll get something at school mum, see you later!" Hauling her bag over her shoulder, Hitomi dragged Yukari out of her house and onto the street. As Hitomi let go, Yukari wobbled for a minute, totally thrown off balance by her friend's flustered actions. After a few seconds of sipping from one side to the next precariously, Yukari made to say something but the look on Hitomi's face kept her quiet.

Hitomi's mind was filled with swirling images of Van. She could see him clearly on the first day she had met him, a strange boy with burning eyes from a world nobody knew about. She had been sprinting the 100m after school for her crush Amano. It had been that day that she had heard Amano was moving away and she had seen it as her last chance. Chasing after him she found him walking home and had asked him:

"If I can run the 100m in the time it takes for the pendant to swing 13 times then I would like you to do something special for me…give me my very first kiss?"

When he had said he was honoured to, she had taken up position and had started the sprint, lunging forwards on the force of the air and the pendant had swung…He dropped onto the track like a stone, Hitomi barely had enough time to comprehend the situation before she had smacked right into him. He had glared at her then, the first real look he had given her was one of contempt.

After that she could see him on the night he had revealed his wings to her. His face, emotions she could never understand without knowing his past. A despair so profound it moved her own heart. He had trusted her, had let her see his wings, had let her know his past. Was it then that she started feeling things for him?

Her feelings…never as sure as Van's…he had known a long time before she did how he felt. He had fallen through the fate alteration device and had become known as the white dragon simply because he had come for her.

So how could he not know her!

"Who are you?"

"Hitomi? Hello?" Yukari waved a hand in front of her friend's face and clicked her fingers.

"Huh?" Hitomi said conversationally. As her thoughts readjusted to the real world, she noticed Amano waving cheerfully at them in the background, running over to catch the subway train to school with them.

"I thought I should bring you round before Amano showed up. Hey Amano!"

Yukari sprinted forwards and leapt into Amano's embrace. He hugged her tightly and stroked the back of her hair. The sight made Hitomi all the more uneasy.

"Are you okay Hitomi?"

Hitomi looked up into Amano's slim, aristocratic face and managed a half smile.

"I'm fine Amano."

"So you say!" Yukari teased.

Amano stared hard into Hitomi's emerald eyes and seemed to see beyond what Hitomi was hiding.

"Just drop it Yukari, if Hitomi doesn't want to talk about it then it's best if we leave it." To seal the deal, he gave Yukari a kiss that made her flush a deep scarlet. And she didn't speak again until the train came.

Amano slipped his arm comfortably around Yukari's shoulders and led her through the doors, into the train compartment. Hitomi hesitated.

It was right then, a cold wind blew through the subway and for a moment Hitomi could feel the presence of someone else on the platform although she knew it was empty. She could feel searching eyes pry into the back of her neck, scoping her out. She shivered.

'_Is it Van? Is he…here? No…this presence, it doesn't feel the same as Van's, it-'_

"Are you coming Hitomi?"

"Sorry!" Hitomi vaulted onto the train as the doors closed and the train pulled out of the station before she had time to reflect on what she had felt.

The atmosphere on the station wavered and distorted as someone from another time briefly connected to someone in this time. The distortion allowed a brief rift in the delicate fabrics of time and a voice from the future echoed out over the hollow platform.

"So…you're the girl that changed the Zaibach Empire's future…"

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The bell signalling the end of class rung out of the silent maths room and there was a flurry of movement as students packed away their things and headed out for their next class. Hitomi stuffed her maths book into her bag and stood up.

"We've got P.E next haven't we?" Yukari mumbled frowning at her timetable and turning it upside down just in case it made more sense like that.

"Yeah, I think so." Hitomi said uncertainly, glaring at Amano to help.

Amano chuckled and Hitomi was struck once again by how much Amano resembled Allen.

Allen…she had had feelings for him when she had been on Gaea. He made her feel safe and he looked so much like Amano…but he was more interested in the Princess Malerna who looked so much like his lost love Marlene…and Hitomi…Hitomi's true feelings lay with Van. Her angel.

"It is P.E." Amano assured them, walking over to Yukari and neatly slipping his arm over her shoulders.

"I'm glad someone knows what they're doing!" Yukari said, gratefully being lead out of the maths room and into the thronging corridor.

Hitomi followed Yukari and Amano out of the maths room, completely lost in her own thoughts. That dream she'd had about Van had bought everything back, everything she had pushed out of her mind to try and get on with her life. Why had it all come back?

'_Why can't I just move on?'_

The sun beat down on them as they ambled out of the main building towards the P.E block. Hitomi put her hand up to her face to shield her eyes, squinting out at the track and P.E changing rooms. Amano reluctantly took his arm off of Yukari's shoulders and disappeared into the boy's changing room. Yukari waved him off and grabbed Hitomi's arm, swinging her through the doors to the girl's changing rooms.

Hitomi let out a half smile and opened her P.E kit. Her hands stopped dead on the pull strings. Van…

"Are you going to get changed or are you just gonna stand there staring at your P.E kit?" Yukari emphasised the importance of this statement but giving Hitomi a quick poke on the shoulder a couple of times.

Hitomi's cheeks flushed a deep, burning scarlet.

"Give it a rest Yukari." She snapped pulling on her P.E shorts and white shirt.

"Give it a rest nothing, you've been acting really strange all day Hitomi! It's like you're in your own little world or something!" Yukari growled stubbornly.

"Yukari…I…"

"Alright, enough with the chatting people, lets get outside!"

Hitomi wasted no time in getting out of the changing room before Yukari could question her anymore on her strange behaviour. She let out a huge sigh of relief and silently thanked the P.E teacher for his impeccable timing.

Taking her place beside Amano, she readied herself, eyes radiating razor sharp focus on the track before her. This track…she had first seen him here…in gold and black armour…chasing a dragon on customary terms to become king of Fanelia. She had saved his life and he had-

"GO!" yelled the timekeeper.

Hitomi arched her back and sprang into a run. She felt her heartbeat quicken and her feet pound on the hard ground as she ran. The heat of the run coursed through her body as she lapsed into the runner's rhythm, hurtling over the track. The ground below her seemed to blur away on an endless burst of speed. Her emotions soared, her head cleared. All the thoughts she had been struggling to hold in were let out onto the air, they didn't matter anymore. Out here, on the track, all that mattered was her running, all that mattered was getting to the finish line. Her focus was absolute.

But…

He was standing in the middle of the track, staring at Hitomi as though struggling to recognise her. She shrieked and tried to slow herself down but she had put too much force into the run, she was going to collide with him. She closed her eyes and braced herself for the impact as she hurtled forward.

She felt a penetrating cold grip her, a cold so sharp it bit into her heart making her gasp and her eyes shot open. An endless white mist clouded her vision. The deep thump of a regular heartbeat overtook her ears.

'_Where am I? Is this a-'_

Hitomi shot back out onto the track and staggered blindly forwards before collapsing in a heap on the floor. The boy spun round and smiled at the girl that had just passed straight through him. Hitomi tried to recover herself from passing through an astral figure, looking into the boy's dark eyes as he held a pale hand out towards her.

"Girl from the Mystic Moon?" he said in a hollow voice. "You're going to need this."

As if on cue, Amano dropped through the astral image of the boy before her and grabbed her shoulders. The boy's knowing smile broadened as he started fading on the air, eyes fixed on Hitomi, hand still held out towards her. On a rash impulse, Hitomi reached up towards his hand and snatched the object from his wavering grasp. Within a few seconds, he was gone.

"Hitomi? Hitomi what's wrong!" asked Amano urgently, shaking her shoulders slightly to make her say something.

"Amano…" she managed.

Amano grabbed her hand and hauled her up into a standing position. She promptly went as stiff as a board.

"We're going to get you to the medical room Hitomi okay?" Amano said soothingly.

Hitomi didn't answer, her mind still revolving around what had just happened. That boy…where he had been standing…it was the same, it was all the same except she had passed right through him this time and had remained conscious at the end of it all. Her hand remained firmly clutched around the object she had given him.

In her heart of hearts she knew what it was. As she was being lead away, she chanced opening her fingers a little to have a look. A slight glint of red, her pendant shone out in the afternoon sun.

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Hitomi sat alone on the hardened bed in the medical room hugging her knees. Her eyes were fixed on the pendant she had put on the bedside table. Silent tears slipped over her face and dripped onto the white sheets below her.

"I gave it to Van…" she whispered to herself. Her voice trailed off as a lump suppressed it. She didn't trust herself to speak without sobbing uncontrollably. The pendant stayed perfectly still reflecting the sunlight.

"Are you okay? Do you want to go home?" asked a voice by the door. Hitomi glanced up at the figure in the doorway and quickly tried to cover her streaming eyes.

It was too late for that, the appointed school nurse had already seen, Hitomi's puffy eyes and the streaking tears still falling over her face.

"I think you'd better go home…do you want me to phone your mum?"

"N-no thanks." Hitomi stuttered. "I've got a pager in my bag, I'll page her."

"Are you sure? I wouldn't mind ringing her myself you know."

"I'm okay." Hitomi sniffed.

"Well…alright," the nurse reluctantly agreed. "I'll wait for her at the school entrance, hope you feel better soon."

Hitomi waited until she was well out of sight before letting out a weary sigh and rummaging around in her bag for her pager. Unwillingly, her fingers brushed something flimsy and rectangular. Intrigued, Hitomi tipped the contents of her bag out on the bed. A few school books, her uniform, her pager and…her Tarot cards…

"I thought I left those at home…" Hitomi mumbled to herself, fingering the familiar 5 tipped star on the back.

"Heya!" Hitomi's head snapped up to the doorway of the medical room where Yukari was standing wearing a cheesy grin and waving manically.

"I thought you were going home? That's what the nurse said." Said Yukari, confusion lining her voice.

"I am." Her eyes fell on the pager but she didn't make to pick it up.

"You know you have to pick it up for it to even consider working?" Yukari asked coming over and jumping on her bed.

"Yeah, yeah. I was just thinking that's all…"

"Hey, are those your Tarot cards? I thought you gave up fortune telling!"Yukari yelled excitedly, shuffling through the cards. "Hey, do my fortune!"

Hitomi took the cards that were thrust under her nose and made to pack them away again.

"Like you said, I've given up fortune telling."

"Oh come on! Just this once! Okay, if you don't wanna do mine, do yours! You seem to have something on your mind so the cards might be able to…I don't know…provide some guidance or something?"

Hitomi ogled at Yukari.

"You know, the scary thing about this is that you're actually making sense!"

Yukari puffed up indignantly.

"Well I…" she trailed off.

Hitomi shuffled the cards thoroughly, feeling each one pass over her fingers, feeling the material in the cards dance under her hands until-

There. She stopped shuffling. These were her cards. She had felt the thrill in her heart, the familiar pang of something unexplainable.

She lifted up the first card.

Judgement. Hitomi breathed out heavily.

"What does that mean?" asked Yukari leaning inwards.

"Judgement. It means I'll have to make a difficult decision." She frowned at the card. Was this the reason she was feeling so uneasy? Was she feeling the turmoil and confusion of a decision yet to come? Something life altering?

She shook her head and picked up the next card, heart pounding, hands sweating.

The death card. Reversed.

"L-lost…"

"Lost what?" asked Yukari worriedly.

"Lost love." Hitomi finished.

"I'm…a bit confused." Yukari said eyebrows furrowing as she glared at the cards laid out on the bed.

It made perfect sense to Hitomi. The dream, the pendant, it was all falling into place. Something must have happened to Van. Why else would he have trusted someone with Hitomi's pendant when he knew the power it held and it was his lat little bit of her?

Her feelings were no longer uneasy. She knew what she was doing. She flipped over one last card before gathering them up.

"What was it?" asked Yukari as Hitomi gathered up her stuff and shoved it into her bag.

"The Lord of Dragons." Hitomi said. She picked up her pendant and swung her bag onto her shoulder.

"What does that mean?"

Hitomi's eyes shone as she faced Yukari.

"Van."

With that, Hitomi turned and walked out of the medical room.

For a moment, Yukari stood in the middle of the room, not sure whether to follow Hitomi or not, still pondering what Hitomi had said. It was only when she heard the bang of the back doors that she launched herself after Hitomi and followed her out to the track.

"Hitomi? Where are you going!" she called after her friend.

Hitomi stopped on the track and turned back to her friend, a smile lighting her features. Her emerald eyes were alight with a burning fire. In one hand she held her grandmother's pendant, in the other she held the Tarot Card, The Lord of Dragons.

"Where am I going? I'm going home!" Hitomi said lifting her pendant up to the sky.

A blue pillar of light erupted onto the track, Yukari couldn't believe what she was seeing. It was as though the moon and the very sky itself was falling onto the Earth below. It was an explosion of electric blue brilliance, particles of the atmosphere had been set on fire.

Inside the blinding light, Hitomi's silhouette began to defy gravity, moving upwards into the clouds.

"Hitomi!" Yukari screamed.

Hitomi heard her friend's voice ring out above the roar of the wind as the pillar of light and for a moment she almost regretted her decision to go back to Gaea but her grip on Van's card tightened and she knew she had made the right decision.

She was heading back to the world where the Earth and moon hung in the sky, back to a small nation protected by dragons, back to a wild young king with a gentle soul and a warrior's heart. She was going back to her angel, she was going home.

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_So Hitomi's gone back to Gaea but who was the boy on the track that gave her back her pendant? What's happened to Van? (all Van fans) WHY WASN'T THE REAL VAN IN THE CHAPTER, YOU JUST MENTIONED REFERENCES YOU CRAZY MIXED UP AUTHOR!_

_BW: I know, I get this sort of thing all the time!_

_FB: Hey whose side are you on!_


	3. The Boy on The Track

_Yay! Update! Okay so technically this chapter once again lacks one Van but this chapter was totally necessary to further the ever developing plot! But I assure you dear readers (peers around at imaginary viewers) that Van is not only in it but he is so much of a main character that without him the story would plummet into a hole of despair. As you can see by my bio...there is no way on this Earth I would write a story without Van!_

_BW: No Van in this chapter...no...Van...(twitch)_

_FB: (petting hand) It's okay, it's okay, he is in this story so don't panic._

_BW: No...Van...in...this...chapter...(turns to FB) ARE YOU MAD?_

_FB: You already know the answer to that! (puts on snow defying gear and starts to waltz across a beach)_

_BW: Need I say anything at this point..._

_FB: Ooh and I was totally trying to make a scoobie thing but I happen to suck and I started it by accident and one bit was shorter than the other so-_

_BW: JUST GET ON WITH THE STORY ALREADY!_

_FB: Hmpf. No need to get testy!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Escaflowne series or even a copy! (sobs) But if I am able to harness the power of electrical storms and manage to frighten all of the producers then I might be able to sneak in and grab the series while they're not looking..._

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2: The Boy on The Track

A blinding flash erupted onto the grass, the light fell from the sky in one thick column bringing Hitomi's silhouette slowly towards the ground. Her hand was still clasped tightly over the Tarot Card: Lord of Dragons, her pendant wavered over her neck.

She felt a light press on her shoulders as her trainers touched down on the grass, gravity took over from where the light had supported her and her knees gave way beneath the pressure. She collapsed into a sitting position and grudgingly opened her eyes.

She had hoped that she would come out somewhere near Fanelia but by the looks of things she had come out in the middle of a dense forest, the dark trees above her filtered the sun making it seem like night on the ground. Twigs gave sharp cracks as she shifted about, she felt exposed, as though every predator imaginable was watching her. Her eyes darted about the wild foliage warily.

"Where am I? How far am I from Fanelia?" she murmured struggling stand up on shaking legs. She squinted through the trees but the shadows merged into the horizon, making it hard to see anything beyond a certain point. Hitomi sighed wearily and bent down to her duffel bag, stuffing Van's Tarot Card in the side pocket with the others as she did so.

She fingered her pendant and thoughts of Van swam in her head.

"Please…tell me which way to go…I don't want to be lost out here any-"

"Girl from the Mystic Moon?"

The voice from nowhere took Hitomi off guard. She let out a small yelp of surprise and crashed gracefully back onto the ground hyperventilating.

"Well that's the first time anyone's ever collapsed when I've asked them a simple question."

"You scared me!" Hitomi retorted defensively. Her eyes widened as the owner of the voice stepped out of the shadows.

"Hey, it's you!"

He had rough cut mahogany brown hair that framed his face in sharp curves, ruffled and matted as though he had been on the road a long time. His eyes were almost violet in the light, piercing and emotionless, it was hard to maintain eye contact with him without feeling uncomfortable. He had pale skin and an indifferent expression as though he was thinking about something more meaningful than what was going on before him. Hitomi recognised him instantly as the boy she had seen on the track.

"You…you gave me my pendant back…"

"Yes, I knew you would understand what that meant and come back to Gaea. You have to come with me I-"

"Where's Van? Is he okay? Did something happen to him? I have to get to Fanelia to make sure he's okay!"

The boy glared at her then, eyes narrowing. Without so much as a word, he walked forwards and put his hand gently on Hitomi's shoulder to calm her down.

"Listen to me." He said in a calm voice. " You have to come back to Fanelia with me, something has been happening in Gaea. Don't bother asking me what because I don't know myself, I'm acting on the orders of someone far more knowledgeable than me."

Hitomi's brow furrowed in slight confusion, she had only been in Gaea a few minutes, things were happening way too fast. She took a deep breath in to clear her thoughts.

"Who-"

"Shh!" The boy cocked his head to one side and listened. The sound of the forest had changed.

"No! Not now." He whispered.

"What's going on?" Hitomi asked feeling it wise to ask as quietly as possible.

"Zaibach spies, they're scouting the area. I knew it was a bad idea to stick around here!"

Hitomi's chest went tight, her blood ran cold in her veins.

'_Zaibach? I thought they were gone for good!'_

Suddenly the boy span round to face her again seizing her hand. Hitomi took an unwilling step backwards looking from his hand on hers to his face and then back down again.

"We've got to hide!" he hissed.

Without waiting for a response he sprinted through the trees and hid as far back in the shadows as he could manage, dragging Hitomi with him.

"Why don't we just get out of here?" Hitomi asked wishing that she was anywhere but here.

"We need to make sure they don't find any trace that you were here. If they know you're here, we might lose the chance to set things right in Gaea." The boy replied, eyes fixed on the sight where he had first picked Hitomi up from.

Hitomi's eyes lowered a little as a daunting thought crossed her mind.

'_Am I really all that important?'_

The crunch of footsteps on fallen twigs and stones made Hitomi's eyes snap back onto the clearing. It took her a moment to comprehend what she was seeing. The creature sniffing over the clearing looked to Hitomi like a huge midnight black wolf but there were a few distinguishing features which made it certain that this creature was not your common everyday wolf.

It had intense silvery eyes and the top of its pelt was covered in silver spikes which flashed tauntingly in the small pools of light that managed to beat their way through the trees. It had a long angular tail almost twice the length of its body that angled off into an arrow-like pointed tip, occasionally it would hit the ground like a whip with a sharp crack.

"What is that?" Hitomi asked in an awed voice.

"It's a reconnoitre, a stealth creature designed specifically by Zaibach sorcerers."

"On no!" Hearing the urgency in Hitomi's voice, the boy turned his ice like eyes on her. Hitomi pointed to the clearing.

"My duffel bag…"

The boy gaped at the place she was pointing, dead centre of the clearing, the turquoise synthetic material stuck out in the area like a sore thumb.

"No." The boy whispered.

The reconnoitre glanced up then and its silver eyes caught sight of the duffel bag. It stopped dead for a moment, listening out for the sound of it's owner anywhere near. The boy put his finger up to his lips in a gesture of silence but Hitomi was already holding her breath.

When no sound was heard, the creature cautiously manoeuvred towards the bag.

"It's going to sniff us out in the end, I'm going to have to kill it now." The boy turned to Hitomi, his face was serious, his eyes were gleaming. "Stay here, that creature might not look too powerful but it can be incredibly deadly if you let it get a hit in. If anything should happen to me, I want you to run."

The boy reached into his side belt and drew his sword. The long blade shimmered in the faint light. Hitomi made to stop him going but he had already vaulted forward into the clearing.

The creature already had its eyes on the area that the boy would appear in, it snarled venomously and arched it's back ready to pounce. The boy dropped in from the trees, blade held erect, the sharp edge seemed to cut his face in two.

They stood facing each other. Silence.

Suddenly, the creature leapt forward, catapulting itself through the air, lunging for the boy's throat. The boy simply closed his eyes.

"LOOK OUT!" Hitomi screamed sprinting forward.

The boy breathed out and just as the creature made to snap it's jaws over the boy's exposed neck, he flexed beneath it, spun and sliced through the creature's stomach. There was an agonised howl, the sunlight through the trees was suddenly blood red and he stayed perfectly still.

The creature dropped through the air and was dead before it hit the ground.

Hitomi stopped dead, eyes fixed on the creature. As it had hit the ground, smoke had started pouring off of it, slowly but surely it was changing size, getting slightly smaller. The silver disintegrated on the air, the dark midnight colour dulled into a shaggy brown. It was just a regular wolf again.

"Is that normal?" Hitomi asked, voice slightly more high pitched than normal.

"The experiment has no effect in death." The boy's voice was solemn, almost respectful. Hitomi looked back at him as he wiped the blood from his sword and tucked it neatly back into it's sheath.

"Get your bag, someone would have heard that. We have to leave now!"

"Uh…right!" Hitomi said doubtfully reaching for her bag.

"Hold onto me." The boy instructed. Hitomi blinked at him but clasped his hand anyway.

"What are you gonna do?"

The boy closed his eyes again, a concentrated look spreading over his pale face. For a few moments nothing happened although Hitomi wasn't sure what she was expecting exactly and then suddenly Hitomi felt an immense sense of displacement.

"What's…"

Her voice was faded and it echoed although the forest wasn't designed for such acoustics. Slowly she bought her hand up to her face.

When she saw the outline of the forest through her hand she made to scream but this time no sound came out. In irrational panic she made to pull her hand out of the boy's grip but despite his hand being ghost like also, his hold on her hand remained strong. Hitomi could only watch herself waste away on the atmosphere.

A few moments later the girl from the Mystic Moon and the boy had vanished completely.

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The wolf man known as Kin rah waited on the edge of his settlement, listening intently for the return of his friend. Around him, the wolf clan settlement was brimming with activity as tents were being packed up and fires were being put out. Black smoke and white steam from these fires seemed to envelope the sky.

The whole encampment was on the move again, this time moving further towards Astoria's frontier. There was something hanging over the air and the wolf clan, naturally in tune with nature could sense the tension. Kin rah sighed in a frustrated manner and started pacing. If his friend didn't hurry up they would be long gone by the time he got back and the whole deal would be for nothing.

He squinted through the trees in the direction of the wolf clan's closest neighbours. Fanelia.

"Aaaah!"

The faint cry had Kin rah's ears pricking up. He turned sharply towards the forest and began scanning the area hoping against hope that it was who he thought it was.

Concealed by the darkness of the trees, the boy let go of Hitomi's hand and gaped out at the settlement. It was still in one piece, the wolf clan hadn't moved yet.

Hitomi staggered backwards a little rubbing her hand and staring at it as though it was the most fascinating thing she had ever seen. She brought her hand up close to her face, she could no longer see the woodland through it.

"What did you do?" she asked looking up at the boy.

"I shifted. Moved from one place to another instantaneously." He explained.

"Um…" Hitomi trailed off.

Tugging her arm once again, the boy walked out of the trees towards the wolf man standing at the edge of the camp.

Kin rah knew him instantly and a light relief reflected in his face. He walked forward to meet the boy unable to keep the smile off his features.

"Aiken! I was beginning to think you wouldn't make it!"

"So was I," the boy replied. "we ran into some trouble a while back."

Hitomi ogled at the boy. So his name was Aiken…

"Right then, we better get moving quickly to Fanelia, I'm not going to have time to take you at this rate." He glanced back at Hitomi who averted her gaze.

"Is she the one?"

"Yes, this is the girl from the Mystic Moon…"

"Hitomi." Hitomi finished.

"Hitomi…this is Kin rah, a member of the wolf clan, I believe you have come across their people before?"

Kin rah waved heartily but Hitomi's gaze was still on Aiken.

'_How does he know so much about me? How does he know I've seen the wolf people before?'_

Kin rah whistled out for the wagon to take them to Fanelia. From behind one of the still in tact tents, a large bull tied to a wood wagon piled high with tent equipment trotted out to meet them.

"Um…Aiken?"

Aiken peered back at her over his shoulder as he made to heave himself onto the wagon.

"Why can't you just…I mean…that shifting thing you did, why can't we just do that to get to Fanelia?" Hitomi asked feeling that she wanted to get to Fanelia as quick as possible.

"I can't," he said, "I can only shift to places I know, I've never been to Fanelia."

"So you've been to the Mystic Moon before?" Hitomi asked. "It's just…that wasn't a vision. You gave me my pendant back, you were reallythere so you must have shifted."

From where she was standing, Hitomi could see Aiken's knuckles whiten as he gripped the side of the wagon. Although his back was turned to her, she could sense the expression on his face. This wasn't something she was meant to know about.

He didn't speak as he climbed up the side of the wagon and failed to speak again almost the whole way to Fanelia. Kin rah on the other hand was proving unstoppable.

"So you're the girl from the Mystic Moon eh? The one that Aiken was sent to find? Wow! And you're as strange looking as they come, I mean with the clothes, not looks of course, no offence meant there. So what's it like living on the Mystic Moon?"

"It's a lot less…eventful living on the Mystic Moon." Hitomi said looking up at the faint moon in the sky as sunset changed the sky from clear blue to burning gold. Aiken followed her gaze up and his eyes narrowed.

A while later, and the night had overshadowed the gold. They had travelled in silence for a while but surprisingly it was Aiken that spoke up.

"So...the pendant was originally yours to begin with? Where did you pick it up from?"

Hitomi pulled at her pendant, illuminated in the blue light coming from the Mystic Moon.

"It's an heirloom from my grandmother." She explained. "Um…my grandmother came here once before me with this stone it…"

She trailed off. Although this Aiken guy had saved her life she was still unsure of what was going on or whether he was really trustworthy. After all it was a mystery how he himself had come across her pendant when she had given it to Van.

"How-"

The wagon juddered to a halt cutting Hitomi off. She stood up and peered over Kin rah's shoulder at Fanelia. It was just how she remembered it, a small city tucked into the valley with trees surrounding it on all sides to mark the boundaries of the city and to protect what lay within it. A main street lead out from the gate through the maze of streets to the huge moss covered palace. As they neared the city, Hitomi could see the houses made of a fairly simple design, white clay and brown wood with a balcony on the second storey.

Last time she had been here this had all been a construction plan. She frowned, something wasn't right. It had only been 3 months since she had left and no amount ofFanelian craftsmen however skilled could finish an entire city in that amount of time.

The wagon neared the gates and Aiken jumped down. Hitomi was a little more careful, despite being an athlete she was still not as durable as those trained in combat.

"Okay Hitomi, this is where we've got to go our separate ways. You need to get to the palace and I have unfinished business elsewhere."

"But, wait a minute, what exactly is going on here? I know I had to come back to Gaea, to Faneliafor a reason and I know you gave me my pendant for a reason, would you mind answering some questions before I delve into the unknown?" Hitomi asked with a slight hint of sarcasm.

Aiken lowered his head so his hair masked his eyes.

"You'll find out on your own. It's not myplace to tell you. Thanks for the lift Kin rah, take care."

The wolf man signalled a wave to both Aiken and Hitomi before moving off into the trees once more. Hitomi watched him go before turning back to face Aiken but what she met was the irongateway into Fanelia, nothing more.

"He left me! He actually left! Unbelievable!"

Hitomi glared at the huge iron gates leading the way to Fanelia as if having a staring contest with them would make what she had to do any easier. She sighed, if something was wrong with Van then nothing would be easy, especially if she had to go through it alone. Pulling at the dark iron, she started the long walk through the city towards his palace.

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_Okay, so Hitomi met the boy called Aiken and we know that once again Hitomi is very important to the future of Gaea but what exactly has happened? Why wouldn't Aiken tell her anything? WHY WAS THERE NO VAN IN THIS CHAPTER? My apologies if this chapter was a little slow moving but there is always the calm before the storm and believe me on the storm front! If I was a weatherman I would be quaking in my boots now!_

_BW: But...weathermen are always wrong..._

_FB: (snapping) Who asked you?_


	4. Finding Out the Hard Way

_Hello?...Is anyone actually...out there...(brandishes megaphone) HELLO! So yeah, I haven't updated any of my stories because I just started A Level and I'm trying to manage my time between homework and junk, I'm also battling a major case of writer's block (which is being overcome as I just had SO much fun doing this chapter) I love this chapter so much (hugs chapter) it's got so many feelings and stuff in it, feelings and fighting (sighs dramatically) This chapter also starts to reveal some of the mystery hehe._

_BW: (looks up from playing cards) FB?...You're back? But...but..._

_FB: (questioningly) But?_

_BW: Oh nothing (whistles and pushes people out of document)_

_FB: What? You can tell me!_

_BW: Well I sort of thought you wouldn't be coming back so I...I..._

_FB: YOU WHAT DAMNIT! (holds up flame thrower)_

_BW: I sort of rented out your account to a bunch of random dudes (cowers)_

_FB: YOU WHAT? (torches everything)_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Escaflowne but Aiken is all mine (drools) I also own a rather bad case of writer's block, a watch neclace that I recently bought from Camden Lock and a vanilla flavoured cake (devours cake)_

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3: Finding out the Hard Way

The first thing that struck Hitomi as she walked silently through the dusty Fanelian streets was how deserted the place seemed. She kept her eyes open, looking both left and right, scanning each building she passed for any signs of life but nothing stirred. The fine cotton curtains in the windows wouldn't even ripple with the wind.

"What's going on?" she whispered to herself. Her voice rang out through the empty streets although in normal circumstances it would have been barely audible. The tension of the silence was bearing down on top of her and she shivered involuntarily.

'_I wish Aiken hadn't left me on my own.' _She thought to herself fingering her pendant nervously. She glanced up at the jaded roof of the palace, just visible over the other clay coloured buildings and sighed. Whatever was happening here, whatever had gone wrong on Gaea while she was away, she would hopefully get some answers at the palace.

She veered a sharp left to walk down a side alley. The shadows of the alley quickly enveloped over her so she had to rely on the light at either end of the tunnel to find her way. The silvery moonlight gave off a haunting glow at the end of the alley and in the alleyway itself, darkness mingled with silence so Hitomi felt as though her body was being compressed by the pressure of the two.

When she came to the end of the alley she stepped out gratefully into the light and checked herself over. She had hoped there would be more people here but as in the previous street there was no-one.

"Where is every-"

A raucous cheer cut her off mid-sentence making her jump backwards, clutching at her chest to stop her heart from bursting out of it. She was staring at the palace, watching as it was suddenly bathed in a warm orange glow. Someone had obviously just started a fire.

"What's going on?" she mumbled again. Her confusion overrode the shock of the cheer penetrating the silence and she started to move on towards the palace keeping her eyes fixed on the flickering roof as a marker of where to go. She walked slowly through the streets, gradually getting closer to the palace so she could make out finer details, the shutters of the windows open to allow air circulation and the white paint on the walls.

As she got closer she could hear the crisp voice of a man speaking. Something clicked in her mind. The cheer must have been because of something this man had said, he was making a speech to a crowd gathered below him, so that's where everyone was. She strained her ears to listen.

"…united these…hand…peace to…"

She shook her head and looked down. She was still too far for any of it to make sense but now that she had locked on to his voice, finding the palace became a lot easier. Where she couldn't see the roof of the palace over the buildings she could listen to his voice and determine where to go from there. Within about an hour of first entering Fanelian grounds she had found her way to the palace, just as the crowd gathered outside the entrance gave out another burst of cheers to the man who was speaking.

She stepped up to the gates and joined the back of the crowd feeling a great sense of relief wash over her. She had finally found her way to the palace. She looked around at the beaming faces of the people as they jumped up in the air and yelled and felt out of place for some reason.

As the cheering died off, full attention was given to the unknown speaker. Hitomi followed the eyes of the crowd up to a small balcony where 3 figures stood. One of them was a tall, thin man with a pale complexion that, when mixed with the flames, made him look almost sinister. He was wearing a traditional Fanelian shirt but there was faint embroidery on the shoulder that signified he was someone important.

Beside him was a girl with long dark brown hair who was wearing an eager smile and was waving down at the citizens of Fanelia as the thin man continued his speech. Her attire was foreign, her long skirt was intricately designed with weaving patterns whereas the Fanelian get up was much plainer. She looked like someone who enjoyed attention, a trait Hitomi automatically disliked in her.

On the far corner of the balcony was-

Hitomi gasped and drew back, hands shaking.

His arms were folded across his chest, his eyes were closed and his brow was furrowed. His wild black hair fell over his face, masking his features in shadow but the flash of the red shirt and the way he stood as though indifferent to everything around him told her who he was straight away.

She hadn't seen him in 3 months, her heart hammered at her chest. She was seeing him now.

"Van…"

"The unity of these two people, the alliance of our two nations, it all comes together for a stronger Fanelia, a Fanelia led by a king who is fuelled with the emotions of his people and his queen. Once the young prince has killed the dragon and has become king, we shall celebrate a wedding to remember. The wedding of Princess Anevay Gladius and the new King Van Fanel!"

The speaker threw his hands up in the air and the crowd erupted. Hitomi was left standing stock still, face shock white, biting tears forming at the corner of her eyes. Despite the amount of information given in that speech only one simple fact had managed to etch itself on her mind.

Van was getting married. He was engaged to that girl, someone Hitomi had never even met. Van was getting married!

The tears fell freely down her face now, the emotion she was feeling was simply too much to bottle up. She drew her hands into fists to stop her shoulders from shaking and closed her eyes. How could this have happened? Why hadn't Aiken warned her before? Why had Van…

She remembered the last time they had been together, right before she had been sent home. She had held out her pendant for him to take and he had pulled her into his arms. She could remember the scent on his clothes, could feel the fabric on her face and the warmth where it had been resting on his skin. She had told him that she would never forget him.

She felt at her chest and gripped her pendant. Had he sent it back to her as a way of saying he couldn't love her anymore?

"Are you alright there?"

Hitomi opened her eyes only to have a fresh wave of tears overtake them. She rubbed at them a few times and tried not to look the stranger in the eye.

"Um…" she said unable to find her voice.

"You should be happy! This wedding will give us a chance to celebrate!" The stranger moved around to get a good look at the girl in strange clothes behind him, his own face distorted with concern and curiosity.

"I…I have to go." Hitomi replied stiffly. She jerked her head away and her tears were left hanging on the air, glistening like stars before falling to the ground as she walked out from the back the crowd.

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He could hear mingling voices of the crowd outside as they slowly dispersed the palace courtyard. He could hear the wind beating against the palace walls, a warning of possible storms. He could hear a voice like a phantom from his past sobbing at the back of his mind. He could hear the faint thud of his own heartbeat as he readied the moon white sword in front of him.

He would have to drown it all out. He would have to drown out the departing crowd, the wind against the walls and the voice in the dark. He would have to drown it all out to listen to the sound of his heart, find its rhythm, keep its rhythm.

He bought the sword round in a sweeping arc and used his free left hand to guide it into a point. He was in pinpoint balance, he was completely focused, he was-

"Lord Van!"

The silver sword slipped from his hand and clattered on the dojo's wooden floor. The little cat girl Merle bounded over to him and swung her arms around his neck, pulling him into a reluctant embrace. When she let go, Van glared at her coldly.

"Merle, can't you see I'm practicing?" he asked walking over to his sword.

"Where's Balgess?" Merle asked peering around in the darkness, her slit-like eyes piercing the shadows.

"I'm practicing alone." Van said in a monotone voice.

"Is it…" the cat girl's hesitation made Van turn around, his burning brown eyes seemed to see straight into her soul. She gulped and tried again. "Is it to take your mind off things?"

Van didn't reply his eyes once again fixed on the moon-white blade before him. He sighed a deep, meaningful sigh. Sometimes that cat girl knew him all too well.

"Am I interrupting anything?"

Van crouched down and grasped the handle of his sword before glancing over at the figure leaning against the door. She wore a wry smile; her dark blue eyes gleamed through the shadows of the dojo.

"No, I was just about to leave."

Van made to punctuate this sentence by stepping out of the dojo but Anevay cut across his path and barred his exit, arms outstretched.

"You're leaving without having a chance to spar?"

Van's wilful eyes cut into hers but she held her stare and waited for his reply.

"I was practicing alone," at this Anevay's eyes darted across the floor to Merle's crouched figure but she didn't interrupt him as he continued. "besides at this early stage in my training, you would beat me without trying."

"You take things too seriously Lord Van. I wouldn't fight you to beat you, I would fight to teach you." Anevay retorted without moving.

"I have Balgess to teach me sword combat, I don't need more than one teacher."

Anevay's smile widened, her hand rested on the hilt of her sword in anticipation. She was clearly enjoying herself.

"Perhaps you could learn a lot from having 'more than one teacher'."

Van sighed wearily and lifted his sword up so the point was at eye level. He shifted his feet for better leverage and faced her just in time to see her eyes flash with pure glee. She too took up the stance.

For a moment there was pure silence between the two, a silence only broken by the faint whistle of the wind against the building and the steady down pour of rain as it started to spatter and disperse on the roof. He closed his eyes and felt the sounds drown out.

Anevay felt around the hilt of her sword, gripped it tight and sprung. His eyes snapped open and he caught her sword on a glancing blow to his own, barely blocking his face as she came down upon him. And in the back of his mind it started up again, the distant sobbing of a phantom from the past, a voice belonging to someone he could not comfort nor block from his mind for too long.

Anevay lifted her sword from the struggle and spun revealing her exposed back for a brief instant before bringing her sword down upon him for a second time. Again he blocked it but she could see he was losing focus. She wasn't ready for their little sparring match to be over but she could see his mind was already occupied with something other than the fight at hand.

'_I'll just have to get his attention.'_

"Can you think of a more intimate way to get to know each other Lord Van? No two people can ever know each other as well as those that fight on the battlefield."

He looked at her then as though seeing her for the first time. Her eyes sparkled in the flickering light from the window in a way that he had never seen them sparkle before. It was as though a mystic blue fire had been set alight behind them and she was prettier for it. The fight between them had made her come alive.

The sobbing grew louder in his ears.

She felt the upsurge of strength from him and was delighted when he had pushed her back so they were once again equal. He kept his eyes on her face, wide and alert; he knew she was an expert with the sword and so he knew that the only way to predict her moves was to trust her to be unpredictable. Her blade glinted on the falling rain and he could almost picture Balgess standing by the window watching his performance critically and every now and then offering words of advice in that calm monotonous voice.

"Keep your eyes on your opponent Lord Van, not their weapon; for you can judge what they are about to do by watching the way their emotions conflict across their face but weapons tell no tales."

Although he felt drawn to the blade, to watch the one thing that could hurt him, he kept his eyes on Anevay's face and watched as her eyes flared.

Merle followed the confrontation from the background and willed Van to strike back hard and precise. She knew of course that a strike like that wasn't Van's style and she could already tell that Anevay was going to win easily. As they circled one another she led the steps, as they clashed with one another she was always above him and as they faced each other, hers was the face that was full of the fight.

They faced each other now, both breathing lightly as the force of the battle wore on them. Merle took some satisfaction in seeing the flush on Anevay's cheeks that came from trying to force herself against Van.

"You don't give yourself enough credit Lord Van, you are quite strong with the sword."

Van said nothing; he continued to watch her carefully for a hint of her next move. The sobbing at the back of his mind was dying off again; he could barely make out the tenor of the voice anymore and felt the unexpected pang of relief and despair.

"You are strong," Anevay continued. "But you are not strong enough."

She launched forward, sword erect, pulse drumming in her ears. This was it, the final strike, if he blocked this one-

He glanced up…and took her off guard. Such sorrow she had never seen in one face, such despair she could not have thought possible for one human to feel. His eyes cried out to her although why she could not understand. It was a fleeting moment when her heart understood something that her mind could not begin to fathom and her final strike lost it's full glory force.

Her blade collided with his but neither held their ground. Both blades slipped out of their owners hands and clattered once again to the dojo's wooden floor.

Merle blinked at them both and then at the blades lying side by side on the floor.

"Does that mean it's a draw?"

Van crouched down and lifted both swords up from the floor. His was slightly heavier than Anevay's and without looking he handed hers back to her. She took it without question and reverted her gaze, anything to keep from seeing that expression, the expression that had cost her the win, had made her have to settle for…a draw.

"As I said before," His voice was devoid of emotion as always but she couldn't forget what she had seen. " I have Balgess to teach me sword combat and I don't need more than one teacher."

He slipped his sword into its sheath and walked across the wooden floor to the exit. After a moment's hesitation, Merle bounded after him leaving Anevay alone with her thoughts.

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Outside, Hitomi huddled up against the rain, seeking shelter under the trees looking out on the Fanelian burial grounds. It was the last place she had seen him before she had come back to Earth and it was the last place she could ventilate her feelings. Her face was still burning with tears that would never stop and the words the announcer spoke still rang clear in her head.

"The wedding of Princess Anevay Gladius and the new King Van Fanel!"

"How could he do this?" she whispered hugging her knees tight. She could still see them together in her mind, could still feel his arms around her, warm and safe. In her minds eye a stroke of sharp lightening split the scene and forced them apart.

"How could he do this to me?" Her voice warbled as she pictured a hazy version of Princess Anevay running up to embrace Van. At first he turned away, sought out Hitomi but eventually…

As the Van in her mind opened his arms welcomingly to this Anevay a fresh wave of tears obscured the leafy scene before her. She sniffed heavily and wiped her eyes on the back of her sleeve so her tears mingled with the raindrops. She tried to get a grip on herself, tried to stand up and make her way out of Fanelia, out of his life but she seemed to have lost her energy.

"I feel like I have flu." She muttered to herself. "I never knew one person could feel this awful."

Another wave of tears fell over her face as she pictured his face with one of those rare smiles, those smiles he hardly ever gave anyone but towards the end had given to her a lot.

"I should have just moved on like I knew he would…" Her shoulders shook as her sorrow reached its peak and she collapsed into fitful sobs, burying her face in her knees letting the misery flood out of her. In this state she was hardly aware of the broad figure standing above her.

"Why are you crying?" The voice was deliberately soft and vaguely familiar, like a voice from a dream. She chanced a glance up knowing full well her face was swollen from crying and tears magnified her eyes. His frame was half hidden by the shadow of the trees; she couldn't make out his face.

"I…I lost s-someone very close to me r-recently." Her voice was barely controllable.

"You're not from Fanelia are you little lady…where is your home? Are you alone here?"

She saw him again on the balcony, his hair falling about his face, his arms folded against his chest, slightly impatient, mostly indifferent. Anevay was beside him waving down at the people eagerly.

"I am now." The tears fell over her face again following the path carved out by the previous flow. The figure above her knelt down slowly on one knee so he was eye level with her. She could feel his warm breath on her hand and found it strangely comforting.

"Come, you look chilled to the bone and I'll be damned if you'll spend the night out here by yourself."

He held out his hand, she looked up and the gasp escaped her lips before she could stop herself.

"Balgess!"

A slight frown wrinkled his forehead. "Have we met?"

Hitomi's breathing was erratic and heavy; her eyes were wide and unfocused. She was taken back to that day, that first day in Fanelia when the city was burning and the air was thick with the stench of smoke and death. The needle glinted on the flame and was fired. He didn't see it coming and was thrown from the Guymelef he had been fighting. Landing on the ground with a sickening thud his lifeblood had drained away.

"Balgess, you're…you're supposed to be dead!"

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_So Van has been betroathed to Princess Anevay Gladius, a Princess from another continent and Balgess is still alive and kicking but why? How did all this come about? Was Hitomi getting the pendant back really Van's way of saying he couldn't love her anymore? Not to mention the old favourites how does Aiken fit into all of it? and so on well...HAHAHAHAHAHAHA you guys don't know!_

_Thanks to karialkia for your reviews and I'm sorry I never got back to you! I just never checked my reviews and there will be more Aiken later on you'll see! _


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